The Education Department has closed its application for student loan forgiveness after a federal judge on Thursday blocked the program, multiple outlets reported Friday.
"Courts have issued orders blocking our student debt relief program," read a note on the government's aid website, per CNBC. "As a result, at this time, we are not accepting applications." The applications of those who have already applied will be held.
On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Pittman ruled President Biden had overstepped in his creation of the program and infringed on congressional powers. "In this country, we are not ruled by an all-powerful executive with a pen and a phone," Pittman wrote in his ruling. "The court is not blind to the current political division in our country. But it is fundamental to the survival of our Republic that the separation of powers as outlined in our Constitution be preserved." The Biden administration is appealing Pittman's decision.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Roughly 26 million Americans have applied for student debt relief, and the Education Department has "already approved requests from 16 million," Reuters writes, noting it's possible for the case to end up before the Supreme Court.
The conservative group that brought the complaint — the Job Creators Network Foundation — has called Biden's program "irrational, arbitrary and unfair," and claimed the administration eschewed normal practice by not first seeking public comment.
The White House "strongly" believes its relief plan is "lawful and necessary," and is "not standing down" amid legal challenges, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a Friday statement.
Thursday ruling aside, the forgiveness program was already on pause following a lawsuit from six Republican-led states.
-
Third judge rejects DOJ's Epstein records requestSpeed Read Judge Richard Berman was the third and final federal judge to reject DOJ petitions to unseal Epstein-related grand jury material
-
'It's our financialized economy in miniature'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Texas OKs gerrymander sought by TrumpSpeed Read The House approved a new congressional map aimed at flipping Democratic-held seats to Republican control
-
Penn wipes trans swimmer records in deal with Trumpspeed read The University of Pennsylvania will bar transgender students from its women's sports teams and retroactively strip a trans female swimmer of her titles
-
Supreme Court may bless church-run charter schoolsSpeed Read The case is 'one of the biggest on church and state in a generation'
-
Harvard sues Trump over frozen grant moneySpeed Read The Trump administration withheld $2.2 billion in federal grants and contracts after Harvard rejected its demands
-
Harvard loses $2.3B after rejecting Trump demandsspeed read The university denied the Trump administration's request for oversight and internal policy changes
-
USC under fire for canceling valedictorian speechSpeed Read Citing safety concerns, the university canceled a pro-Palestinian student's speech
-
Florida teachers can 'say gay' under settlementspeed read The state reached a settlement with challengers of the 2022 "Don't Say Gay" education law
-
Biden administration to forgive $39B in student loan debt for 800K borrowersSpeed Read
-
Advocacy groups challenge Harvard's legacy admissions policySpeed Read
